So, when you decide to drink and drive, a lot of things happen — you speed up, you slow down, you drive over the fog line and back. The penalties are harsh if you happen to be pulled over and much harsher if you happen to kill someone in your path.

But the number of deaths to drunken driving have dropped, because we have become more focused on the danger and equally focused on the penalties that come with it.

I have driven in the Twin Cities area for the past 17 years, and what I see now is a lack of respect for the texting laws on the books. People do not fear these new laws, and it’s getting worse. Ever wonder why traffic is slower to pull away from stoplights? It’s countless people getting in the last words of a tweet or Facebook comment.

If texting is as dangerous as drunken driving, shouldn’t the penalties sting equally? You’re equally as dead if you’re hit by a person who’s texting as you are if you’re hit by a drunken driver.